Deep River Muddogs to join CVCL in 2015

Saturday

RAMSEUR — Nestled behind Ramseur Elementary School located on U.S. 64 stands a baseball field that used to play host to some of the top players in Randolph County.

RAMSEUR — Nestled behind Ramseur Elementary School located on U.S. 64 stands a baseball field that used to play host to some of the top players in Randolph County.

Craven Stadium was once the the site of some very exciting baseball featuring teams from Eastern Randolph High School and the Eastern Randolph American Legion baseball program. There were many, many nights when the park was filled with spectators watching the likes of Chris York, Tim Murray, Jerry Kidd, Mike Wheless, Jeff Cain, Joey Hackett, Steven Wright, Steve Davis and Neil Kivett.

But the field that was once the place to be in Ramseur was replaced by a field built at Eastern Randolph High School. Since Grady Lawson Field was built on the campus of ERHS in the early 1990s, Craven Stadium has been used very sparingly, hosting a little league tournament or a church function from time to time. But in the past decade or so, the stadium has all but disappeared in terms of hosting what very well could be the most popular sport in the county.

Until now.

The Central North Carolina Baseball Club, an organization that has sponsored baseball teams the past two years, is hoping to bring Craven Stadium back to life as the Deep River Muddogs are scheduled to participate in their first season in the Carolina Virginia Collegiate League in the 2015 summer season. The CVCL is a wood bat summer collegiate baseball league, attracting players from all across the country. The Muddogs will be the 10th team in a league that already includes the Catawba Valley Stars, the Fuquay-Varina Twins, The Kernersville Bulldogs, the Charlotte Crushers, the Roanoke Rails, the New River Roadrunners, the Mooresville Spinners, the Carolina Pirates and the Montreat Mountaineers. As many as two more franchises, along with the Muddogs, will begin play next season.

Reggie Allred, Matt Brown and Mikey Johnston head up the CNC Baseball Club and it has been their success over the last two years that has led to the opportunity to participate in the summer collegiate league.

"Matt Brown and I started the baseball club last year and we’re playing in a tournament when we were approached by the people in the (CVCL) about having a team in Ramseur," Allred said."They told us they were looking to expand and having a team in Ramseur would be a perfect fit. We signed a contract last week, started recruiting players and we advertised for a coach."

Among the players expected to play for the Muddogs next summer are Southwestern Randolph High School graduate Travis Gordon and Faith Christian School graduate Alec Allred.

"I’m looking forward to playing close to home and this will be a new experience with all the travelling," Gordon said.

Allred and Brown both stated they will concentrate on local players, but intend to put a competitive team on the field each summer.

"There is a lot of local talent and we’re going to try and keep our search for the most part within an hour and a half or so," Allred said. "We do have someone from New York already signed for the summer, but we’re going to concentrate on Randolph, Guilford, Moore, Chatham and Montgomery counties."

CVCL Commissioner Ken Winfrey welcomed the team into the league recently.

"The addition of the Deep River Muddogs to the CVCL provides college student athletes another opportunity to play high quality wood-bat summer baseball," he said. "Ramseur North Carolina has always had strong baseball roots for local youth and high school baseball programs, and we believe the addition of the Muddogs will strengthen baseball even further in North Carolina. We believe we have a good coverage of franchises across both the states of Virginia and North Carolina and look forward to adding more franchises for the upcoming 2015 season."

Brown, a former Eastern Randolph High School star and a professional in the Montreal Expos organization from 1999-2003, said he was excited for this opportunity.

"We were excited to start the program two years ago for 17 and under and 18 and under and getting all those kids to play college ball," Brown said. "Some of those kids mentioned about wanting to play ball in the summer and where they could play and we saw this as a perfect fit. Since then, we’ve been looking for stadiums or fields and thought Craven was the best idea. We want to bring the community closer. It’s a great baseball area."

Probably the biggest obstacle this first season is renovating Craven Stadium. Grass needs to be planted, a ticket booth built, new dugouts constructed, a new backstop needs to be purchased, fencing has to be fixed and there are plenty of other improvements that must be made. The Muddogs are hoping the Randolph County community jumps on board to help renovate Craven Stadium. There are multiple sponsorship options available. For more information, go to www.cncbaseballclub.com or www.deeprivermuddogs.com. or call Brown at (336) 601-4531 or Allred at (336) 302-6052.

Brown said the co-owners will soon be soliciting area businesses for sponsorship opportunities.

"We’ve got a lot of great feedback so far, the community is excited," Brown said.

Allred said the CNC Baseball Club intends on expanding its age brackets, offering tournament play for all ages in the near future. That would allow players to begin playing at a young age and have the opportunity to play all the way through college.

"We’re hoping to get coaches with professional or collegiate experience for all our teams," Allred said.

Allred said finding out and displaying the history of Craven Stadium and baseball in Ramseur will also be important to the organization.

"This used to be the thing to do in Ramseur," Allred said. "The place would be packed. I found out the first night game was in 1961. It’s been an important part of the community."

And if all goes according to plan, it will be once again this summer.

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